December 2012 Petit Amuse

This is my first Petit Amuse box and I am so glad it is finally here after I signed up in October! I have to say, I think it was worth the wait :)

This December Petit Amuse box had yummy sweets in it for the holidays! Debating on sending this box to my brother who is in college for the next few months as his birthday present....

First product I tried was this Vadeboncoeur Artisanal French Nougat. Artis'anal'? Really? Anyway, I have not had any other nougats before I tried this one so I really have nothing to compare this to. This slice of nougat was chewy, not overly sweet, the nuts added a great crunchy texture that helped break up the nougat and had a bit of a salty element. This was a very tasty first experience of nougat! I can't say that I will be craving this in the future, but I will not be afraid to try it if it does come up in my foodie-future.

Next we have this tub of Champlain Valley Apiaries Crystallized Honey. I am not really into honey unless it is in my tea, but I figured this might be good on some toast. I ended up tasting it with my finger....then typing on my laptop. Not my smartest moment! But this honey is so damn good! It has a gritty texture since it is crystallized and is not as tacky as regular honey. It has this rich and kind of fruity flavor that I found irresistible! I can not wait to try this on something other than my finger :)

Lastly, we have this adorable little tin of Coco-Zen Handcrafted Artisan Chocolates. Inside there was a little card with a cute quote from Buddha that I taped to my mirror :)

And here are the little beauties! Aren't they pretty? The first one I tried was Chocolate Espresso Bean (the one with the coffee bean on the top). It is their vegan chocolate and it was amazing. It was thick, rich, melted in your mouth and had fantastic chocolaty-coffee flavor. If they can make a vegan chocolate taste that good, I was confident the others would knock my socks off. The next one I tried was the Orange Blossom with Almonds (the nut topped one below the coffee bean one) and it still had that great texture. It was a little light on the orange blossom flavor, but still delicious. The peanut butter one ended up being my favorite, followed by the mint. These are fantastic! And at $18 for 21 in a tin, they are a tiny and delicious splurge.

 

 

This box is $10 a month plus $2 for shipping. You can order the products in your box through their website but shipping is $7.99 (ouch!). Each month you get 1-2 full sized products or 3-4 samples. This month there were 3 good-sized samples. So far, I think this box is great! I much prefer this box over the Love With Food box. Very excited for January's box!

 

Jenn

Ipsy Glam Bag- December 2012

I was so excited to see the hot pink envelope this month! For some reason I knew I would love the December Ipsy Glam Bag, and I was not let down!

This month the featured brands were Urban Decay, Mirabella, Mai Couture, NYX, and Be A....Bombshell. I love the card that says "From Ipsy with Love, Happy Haute Holidays!", so adorable. There is also another card saying you can gift Ipsy and a booklet with a $20 promo code to JustFab.com.

Now on to the good stuff! This month's make up bag was a little rectangle in a dark silver. The products were literally busting out of it!

First up is this trial tube of Urban Decay's Naked Skin. The shade they sent was perfect for me but I did not see it labeled anywhere what shade it was. This formula is light and a bit watery out of the tube, but on my skin it spread evenly, latched on, and finished with a velvety texture. It does not have the thick coverage that other BBs I have tried have, but it really does give a look of softness to my skin and evened everything out. That was very impressive of a product that is so light! While wearing, my skin felt hydrated and fresh for hours after application! I think this will be a great BB cream for the Spring/Summer and since it is launching in January, I will have to put it on my shopping list at Sephora. 

Also from Urban Decay this month was a mini sized 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black). This pencil is awesome. I love the formula as it really is a "glide on" pencil. The black was really dark and dramatic which was great and it stayed where it was put and didn't end up all over my eyes as I wore it. This mini goes for around $9 on eBay.

I have not used a loose eyeshadow in quite some time so this NYX Loose Pearl Shadow in black scared me and excited me at the same time.  This full sized shadow goes for about $3 in stores. This was a mess getting it out of the tub with out it going all over my hand. The good thing is that it gripped the brush and didn't fluff off when applying to my eyelids so it did not get all over my face. It is very pigmented so it looked like a dark grey with the first application and then BLACK when I worked more into the crease of my eye lids. I wish I could get a good picture! Check out the one I did get below.

I was happy to see this full sized tube of Mirabella PRIME for face and eyes in the bag with that black, loose shadow. This is the perfect compliment product from keeping that black from looking like you have a black eye. This primer is clear and is like a gel-formula. You only need a tiny bit for your eyes as it spreads very easily. My eye make up stayed on like it was painted there! After several hours of volunteering and running around after 2 puppies it looked like I just applied it. This stuff is amazing! And since it is clear it really lets the color of the shadow itself show. This tube is going to last forever! This tube is valued at $29 on the mirabellabeauty.com website.

This full sized be a...bombshell Lip gloss in Hot Mess is seriously bright red! It applies like a gloss, it feels like a gloss and the color is more sheer and fun than a lipstick. I am in love with this especially for the holidays. You can wear it alone and have a nice pop of color or you can layer it over your red lipstick to give it more dimension or brighten it up. The texture is great and the color stays for quite awhile. I would suggest using a clear lip liner (like the anti-feathering one by Too Faced) so that it does not run/bleed off your lips and onto your face ;) This lip gloss goes for about $14 on beabombshellcosmetics.com. Check out the picture with me wearing the gloss below.

At first I thought these were more oil blotting papers (and boy don't I love those!) but they are something new to me...Mai Couture Highlighter Papier. This was so cool! These papers have highlighter powder on them and on the back of the book it has a diagram on where you can apply the paper. I tried it on my forehead, cheekbones, brow bones, nose and chest. One sheet was enough to cover all these areas and then some. It is a light, very natural shimmer and stayed put. This booklet goes for about $28 in higher end department stores.

Here is a picture of my eye make up with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil. Love how dark this stuff comes out after only 1 or 2 passes.

This is a picture of my "smokey eye" with the NYX Ultra Pearl Shadow. It was hard to take a picture of the shadow with out me looking like I was blinking half way through the picture LOL. The bump at the bottom is a magnet so It can go on my make-up magnet board!

This is a photo of me wearing the Be a...Bombshell gloss in Hot Mess. Every time I use this gloss I like it more and more!

Yet another fantastic Glam Bag from Ipsy this month! This $10-a-month gem is going to be in my sub box rotation for quite some time if they keep up with the great products. This month's bag comes in at a whopping $83 value! Love it Ipsy :) I look forward to 2013!

Jenn

December Birchbox

 

The December Birchbox is here and it is so adorable! I love the holiday themed outer and inner box- pink and gold, my favorites! :)

 

This month theme is all about being festive for the holidays and looking and feeling your best for your holiday activities.

 

There is this little adorable tag with the box this month so you can reuse it to wrap a gift! What a smart idea.

 



Now to get started on the actual products!

 

First up is this Juice Beauty Organic CC Cream in Warm Glow. This is my first CC cream and it had a nice, thick texture. The coverage was somewhat like a tinted moisturizer so I did 2 layers for a more even skin tone. This stuff smells "organic" which is not an attractive quality for me. It dissipates quickly thought, and it has a demi-matte finish. This has a laundry list of "tasks" that it addresses with the skin, but my favorites are the chemical SPF 30 in the formula, that it is an "ultimate moisturizer", repairs DNA damage, and firms & improves elasticity. I have to say, it really does moisturize skin with out being heavy or greasy...but I am not ready to give up my BB cream just yet. I will be keeping my eye open for these CC creams though! 

 

 

This sample of Nicole Richie's Parfum was surprisingly nice. It was a sweet/sugary scent that was now over powering and did not smell like food. You can definitely pick up on the notes of vanilla and amber. I liked this scent, but I do not see it replacing my favorite sweet scent, Aqualina's Pink Sugar Seduction. It is just delicious :) 

 

I have started to fall in love with the Balm products and Mary-Lou Manizer aka "The Luminizer" is yet another awesome make up product. This light gold highlighter had a great texture and the color was very universal and complimentary. I love the formula and high level of pigments in theBalm products, and this one is just as awesome as others I have tried. It took just a little dab with my blush brush and a sweep across my cheekbones and temples, bridge of my nose and forehead to make an impact. I still can't get over how great the color of this highlighter is! The card in the box says this is a 3-in-1 highlighter, shadow and all-over shimmer, and I intend to try it every way.

Kerastase Resistance Ciment Thermique Leave in Conditioner and I received 2 packets...yey! I used about a quarter-sized dollop of this through the ends of my hair as I wanted to make sure my scalp did not end up looking greasy. It has a nice, thick texture and a crisp, clean smell (think uni-sex). Throughout the rest of the day, the ends of my hair did not get as knotted and felt very soft. The fomula was not heavy and did not weigh my hair down, but it was thick enough to do its job. It gets 2 thumbs up from me!

 

Finally a fun and unique "lifestyle extra" from Birchbox! This Dark Chocolate Peppermint Fortune Cookie from Emily's was delicious and I loved that the fortune inside was holiday themed. These can be found at World Market stores (which are kind of out of the way for me) and come in adorable little take out boxes. They even have ginger bread flavored ones for the holidays!

Lastly there is this $50 gift card to RentTheRunway.com. It is not something that I am interested in using as it costs about $200 to rent a dress. Also found that you can not use the code to purchase make up or accessories. This was a bust for me :(

And there we have it for the December Birchbox! I was a bit disappointed that I did not receive a single full-sized item, but I do like that they improved on the quality of the "lifestyle extra" and gave 2 packets of the hair product. The size of the sample of the CC cream was enough for me to try it over 3 times and the highlighter powder will last for quite awhile. While I can not give a value on this box, I personally feel it was worth the $10. Sign up for your box now to see what they will be bringing in 2013!

 

Jenn

 

 

 



"Christmas Crack" Recipe

 

Recently my friend Kristin invited me to go to girls' weekend in Delaware. A tradition for this trip was having bags of tasty junk food. The last 2 years, Kristin made muddy buddies/puppy chow, but this time she had 3 huge zip-loc bags of this amazing stuff that was dubbed "Christmas Crack". After that weekend I knew I had to make this at home (even though I know I shouldn't....)

Here we go:
Gather your ingredients!

• 2 cups of Rice Krispies
• 3 bags of microwaved popcorn (popped and all the un-popped kernels removed)
• 1 large Vanilla Almond Bark bar
• 1 (or more) tablespoons of peanut butter
• Large bowls to mix the crack
• Wax or parchment paper
• Plastic bag/bags to store the crack

Decide how you are going to melt your bark. I chose a large pot almost filled with water and a glass bowl above it to melt the bark in with out it burning. When the water gets close to a boil, I put the bowl on top and put in the bark.














Next, pop your bags of popcorn! I used the setting on the microwave to avoid burning it. One of the bags I tried to pop myself ended up very burnt....oops.




After you have popped your corns, your bark should be looking like this. Make sure you are stirring it often.

In your large bowl, mix some of your popcorn and 1 cup of your Rice Krispies. Trust me, you will thank me later for telling you this as you will need space in the bowl to move this stuff around and mix it.

Now comes an important decision: One tablespoon of peanut butter....or two. Well, I just took a spoon and dug it in and what ended up on the spoon was what was going into the melted bark :)  NOTE: the more peanut butter you use, the less hard the bark will be when it cools. Personally, I would not go over 2 tablespoons.

Mix in the peanut butter and make sure everything is melted together and there are no lumps. Your kitchen should smell amazing and people will be trickling in and out wondering what you are making....don't tell them. If you have a mother like mine, she will start eating the stuff before it has cooled. Now before you start mixing, lay out 2 long strips of wax or parchment paper side by side (and over lap them a little). This is where you will spread the crack to cool.

I used my scraper to drizzle the mixture over the popcorn and Rice Krispie mix and slowly mix it in. This made it pretty easy and I could spread the melted mixture out with out it being really heavy in one area. Not every popcorn will be completely covered, but you want that! Then the salt and butter flavor will come through. I filled this bowl with popcorn and Rice Krispie mix about two and a half times.

As you get everything mixed, dump out the mixed parts on the wax paper and then keep mixing, refilling the bowl with popcorn and Rice Krispies and pouring the bark mixture as needed. After it is all mixed and spread out on the paper, let it cool. Do not be surprised if you return to the crack to see that the edges have been picked at, this would just be other members in the house hold walking by and grabbing it before it is done cooling. There will still be plenty left.

Once cooled and hardened, break up and put in storage containers. I used a jumbo 2.5 gallon zip-loc bag to store mine. You can also put into decorative bags, tins, or boxes to give a way as gifts. Yum yum! Make sure you include a print out of the recipe or people will be all over you to make more.











For other ideas, you can crush up candy canes and sprinkle over the top while this is cooling. You can break up into large pieces and drizzle chocolate over them for added decadence. You can mix in chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, Reese's pieces, mint M&M's or anything else you can think of!

A big thank you to my friend Kristin who shared this awesome recipe with me and I can't wait until the next girls' weekend!!!

Jenn

Baked Avocados

I got this idea for baking avocados from here and it looked so delicious that I had to try it. I freeze my avocados that are ripe but I can't eat so that I can enjoy them later and this is the PERFECT recipe for them.

I gathered my ingredients according to the directions on Pinterest, but really I just kind of went rouge on this and added what I wanted too. I was going to add some chopped onions (which is why it is in the picture) but decided to leave them out.

Ingredients:

• halved avocado (fresh or frozen)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat panko crumbs
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp  reduced fat Parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp basil (I used dried but you can use fresh)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• your choice of salsa, eye ball the amount

Since I used frozen avocados, I first rinsed them in warm water to get the frost off and to thaw them a bit. Then I placed them in a pan and turned on the oven to 450 degrees.

Next, in a small bowl, mix your panko crumbs, cheese, basil, garlic, and lemon juice. Mix it all up and set it aside.

 

Next, take your salsa and spoon it into the hole in your avocado and add as much as you want. I used 2 heaping spoonful on my avocados.

 

Then take your bread crumb mixture and place it on top. Split it evenly between the 2 halves and just cram it on there.





Then pop the pan in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the tops are browned. Oh they look soooooo good.

 

I served mine up with some reduced fat sour cream and some pita chips. DELICIOUS!



A serving is only one half so resist the urge to eat both of them :)

Enjoy!

Jenn

CanvasPop.com Review

It has always been one of my goals to have some nice canvas pictures to put up in my home. Don't get me wrong, I like frames, but something about an unframed canvas piece excites me. Maybe it is because I used to paint or maybe I just like the clean lines.

In my November PopSugar box, I received a $30 credit to CanvasPop.com. I was thrilled and I knew just what picture I wanted to try this out on.

On November 24th, I went on the website and followed the VERY easy instructions for creating your own work of art. You can choose all sorts of options and my mind was racing with all the other things I want to use this site for! Finally I decided to use my Instagram account pictures for my piece. This option is a little more expensive as it comes on a frame and a finished edge that is exposed. I chose a white edge and this picture. Isn't my Bentley handsome?








In addition to the $30 credit, I paid $23.95 for the upgrade of the canvas frame and $14 for the shipping. It arrived on December 4th and was lovingly packed by Jose....no really, there was a card inside saying so :)

 

I looooooove the way it turned out! It casts more of a yellow glow because of the candle burning, but the picture looks just like the one on Instagram. The quality of the canvas and frame was amazing, they mailed it in a nice box and it was well packaged, and it even came with the hardware to hang it! There was also a deal when I placed my order and I received a $50 credit to be used anytime after Christmas Eve. My dad asked for that so I gave it to him, and the best part is since he will be a new customer using that code they are going to send me ANOTHER $50 code for myself! I love it!

 

I could not be happier with how this turned out. Its a shame that it is just hung in my bedroom over my wine bar (yeah, I have a wine bar in my bedroom). I am thinking I will need several more of these to hang over my headboard :) I highly recommend this website to transform your pictures into gorgeous canvas masterpieces!

 

Jenn

 

 

 

StyleMint.com Review

In my November PopSugar Box I received a free credit to try StyleMint.com. This is a website much like ShoeDazzle where they bill you monthly and you can choose from an assortment of items. StyleMint is for tops and pants where as ShoeDazzle is....well, shoes.

This code too FOREVER to work. I even emailed PopSugar customer service, thinking that I may have gotten a bum code. After checking 3 times, it finally showed up.

I looked over the site for over an hour trying to find something that I liked. I really had that hard of a time (because there really aren't THAT many items to look through). It is just not my style of clothing. Finally I found this hoodie that I decided on. Its about the only thing on there that I liked. Sizing on the site is a bit weird too. They are numbered 1-5 and there is a sizing chart, but I guess just like anything else you order online you just have to use your gut.

I swear I thought I placed the order for the mint green hoodie in a size 4. I would have picked the size 5 if that were an option, so I was just praying this top fit around my boobs. Order was placed on November 26th and arrived December 10th. In that time, I emailed customer service to have them cancel my account. You are supposed to call them, but I just emailed and they took care of it that way which was nice of them.

When it arrived, it was in an envelope and inside it was wrapped in brown paper with this cute piece of blue, suede leather cord.  I will have to find a use for that....

 

Wait, this hoodie is not mint green! Well, now that my account is cancelled I can't go back in and verify what I ordered, but I did check my order confirmation and saw that it said "navy heather", so who knows. It wouldn't be the first time I messed up my own order.

I was very impressed with the quickness of the shipping, the careful packaging of the product, as well as the helpful customer service. The hoodie actually fit very well  and I liked the navy heather color. The fabric was a good weight and the quality of the product reminds me of something I would buy at Target (which is where I buy the majority of my clothes!).  Each credit is $29.99, and I do not feel like I would spend almost $30 on this quality of hoodie. Maybe $20 at most.

 

I love when PopSugar Must Have Box has these awesome little credits to try things I would not normally try! I can't wait for my December box to get here :)

 

Jenn